"In the old days we...."

[MurphCID]

I remember those pirate radio stations, but I thought they had gone the "way of all things", I had not heard about them for years.

[AndyMH]

Caroline's theme song brings back so many memories.

Pirate radio in the mid 60's was a must if you were a teenager in the UK. The BBC had a broadcasting monopoly and simply did not (or want to) cater for the younger generation. We had Radio Luxembourg, but that was evenings only and reception spotty. Caroline was the first, rapidly followed by others. Often a converted trawler sitting outside UK territorial waters broadcasting pop music. The government killed them off by making it illegal for UK companies to advertise on them. The BBC woke up and we got Radio 1 in 1967, but the pirates were better!

There is a rather silly film, "The boat that rocked", decent cast, but it is the music that will get you going.

[MurphCID]

I really remember listening to AFN (Armed Forces Network) in Japan in the 1970's with Wolfman Jack, Charlie Tuna, etc. I also with great nostalgia remember AFN playing "Christmas in the Paddies" around Christmas. I found it, and it brought tears to my eyes. Here it is:

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
The cold would awaken the sleepiest mouse.
The stockings were hung by the space heater with care
In the hopes that St. Nick-san would soon be there.
And I in my blanket, with the heat turned on high
Had just settled down–oyasumi nasai.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
Mom was checking the oil drums and as mad as a hatter.
I threw open the window and peered through the plastic.
Gomen nasai darling, don’t do anything drastic.
I had forgotten to order some more of the stuff,
And it looked as if Christmas would be kind of rough.

The moon on the breast of the gravel and snow
Gave the luster of midday to the compound below.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a chisai sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
A little ol’ honcho, so lively and quick.
I could tell by his accent, he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than jet forces he came
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:
Now Dozo, now Daijobu, now Chotto and Matte,
On Soba, on Sushi, on Ah So Desuka.
(Because of the unions I suppose over here,
He probably employs Japanese reindeer).
As fast as lightening, he entered the door
And opened his furoshiki and dumped on the floor
Dozens of packages and gifts of all sizes,
Just what the kids wanted plus extra surprises.
I was so happy I wanted to squeeze ‘im
Christmas would be merry, even though we were freezin’…
Thank you, I said, You’re such an old dear,
Domo arigato, as they say over here.

But how did you ever find this place?
We worried that maybe you just went on base.
His eyes, how they twinkled; “Now don’t ever tell,
But I don’t go by rank or key personnel…”
What did you bring me? I wanted to know.
He shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of tofu.
“Well, you private renters sure need a lot,
But for you, it’s something special I got;
It’s much too big to go under the tree,
So look out in the yard and you will see,
To keep peace in the family, you know what I mean,
Your gift is a drumful of kerosene.
And now I’d better be off, for I’m on TDY
And it’s quite a trip back to the good ol’ ZI”
He sprang from his sleigh and to his team gave a whistle
And away they all flew like the thrust of a missile.
But I heard him exclaim as they drove out of sight,
“Christmas Omedeto and to all a good night!”

[MurphCID]

Well got the Spouse Unit's NUC and TV hooked back up in her sewing room. First thing it showed was "UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 11!" NO! NO! NO!. So after the agony of Windows updates things are running fine.

[HaveaMint]

I really remember listening to AFN (Armed Forces Network) in Japan in the 1970's with Wolfman Jack, Charlie Tuna, etc. I also with great nostalgia remember AFN playing "Christmas in the Paddies" around Christmas. I found it, and it brought tears to my eyes. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM

[MurphCID]

I remember putting in the DOS floppy to get started and then switching floppies for the program you wanted to run. Praying you did not run out of ram, or somehow damage your disks. That is why I thought 3.5" disks were amazing, they were sturdy.

[deepakdeshp]

3.5 inch floppy disks were sturdy but 5.25 inch were more reliable IMO.

[RollyShed]

We started with 8" floppies which weren't reliable. A dual setup and the left hand one possibly worked but not the other. Then came the 5-1/4", how can we depend on them? But they did work and reliably. Then smaller still with more on them. You're joking, if 8" doesn't work ... But they did and still do. Fairly recently I've been copying across files from 2+ decade old 3-1/2" floppies. Stories and pictures.

[MurphCID]

We started with 8" floppies which weren't reliable. A dual setup and the left hand one possibly worked but not the other. Then came the 5-1/4", how can we depend on them? But they did work and reliably. Then smaller still with more on them. You're joking, if 8" doesn't work ... But they did and still do. Fairly recently I've been copying across files from 2+ decade old 3-1/2" floppies. Stories and pictures.

I just trashed (broke, then cut up) probably 100 old 3.5" and 5.25" floppies since we no longer have a floppy drive in the house. I have no idea what was on them since my labeling skills back in the day were cryptic at best; "Backup" "game", "Stuff". I am pretty sure I copied all of them to CD at some point....I think....Well I must have....I hope....

[MurphCID]

Who remembers computers using magnetic tape to back stuff up?

[fstjohn]

Who remembers computers using magnetic tape to back stuff up?

Me, for one. The mainframes I maintained for Burroughs used anywhere from 6 to 20 tape drives mounted with reels of half-inch tape. Each computer installation had at least one, and often more, tape librarians who would mount, dismount, label and store the tapes as they were used.

[RollyShed]

I just trashed (broke, then cut up) probably 100 old 3.5" and 5.25" floppies since we no longer have a floppy drive in the house.

I have a drive with a USB connector for 3-1/2" floppies.

As for magnetic tape, that's how we started domestically (at home) and at work, punched paper tape, after about a dozen octal instructions had been entered in binary (toggle switches) on the front of the PDP-8 s we had.

[AZgl1800]

Who remembers computers using magnetic tape to back stuff up?

my first computer was the Tandy that used audio tapes at 300 baud.
what a PITA that was

20/20 hindsight, says I should have accepted the job offers from IBM instead of going to work for an oil pipeline back in 1968

[deepakdeshp]

Who remembers computers using magnetic tape to back stuff up?

I worked on veritas net backup an enterprises grade program using tape libraries consisting of tape media.
The os was sun Solaris . It was 24 years ago.

[MurphCID]

Who remembers computers using magnetic tape to back stuff up?

I worked on veritas net backup an enterprises grade program using tape libraries consisting of tape media.
The os was sun Solaris . It was 24 years ago.

Wow. I wonder if businesses still use tape drives?

[fstjohn]

Wow. I wonder if businesses still use tape drives?

When I retired in 2008 the company I worked for (https://www.afsvision.com/) was still using tape; albeit a completely automated tower of "cassettes". It was fascinating to watch the robot arm move up and down and around to select a tape and mount it.

[ivar]

Wow. I wonder if businesses still use tape drives?

We phased out our HP 8-tape robot library a little over a year ago. In favor of "backup to disk" , a file server with lots if disk capacity, which then copies the backed up data to cloud storage to also get off-site storage

[MurphCID]

Like COBOL, I guess tape never really dies....

[Mintmann]

My first pc had no Windows!

[MurphCID]

My first pc had no Windows!

Lol!!! Me too!